Pork. Salt. Time. This humble trio provides us with a cacophony of cured meats, each of which are often meticulously produced and looked after by skilled artisans over generations. But of all the sausages, charcuterie, salumi and hams out there, it’s jamón Ibérico (Ibérico ham) that really gets chefs and home cooks excited.

Hailing from the Iberian Peninsula in southwest Europe, this very special ham has some serious history behind it. This stunning part of the world is a masterclass in nature: all lush valleys, fresh rivers and coastal plains, separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees mountains and surrounded by both the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

What really makes it special, however, is the dehesa – a unique, sustainable ecosystem covering the area which sees magnificent oak trees peppered throughout vast grasslands. This ancient landscape has been home to (and shaped by) pig farming for thousands of years; there are even prehistoric cave paintings in the area to prove it. Over the eons the peninsula became more and more known for its pigs and pork, through the time of the Romans, the Middle Ages and even 700 years of Muslim rule. In the nineteenth century the peninsula became famous for its hams, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that Ibérico ham in particular became the revered product loved around the world today.

The dehesa is where acorn-fed Ibérico ham originates, but it’s the exceptional pigs living there which are responsible for its flavour. Native to the peninsula, the Ibérico pig has been reared for centuries on the dehesa, inadvertently shaping its landscape by grazing and roaming free. They’re as close to wild as a domesticated animal can get – and that wellbeing throughout their lives has a huge impact on the flavour of their ruby-red pork, especially when it’s turned into Ibérico ham.

In the dehesa there are plenty of natural delights to be found, but there’s one thing Ibérico pigs love above all else – acorns. They fall from the oak trees and cover the ground during autumn, and the pigs feast on them as they fatten up during the final stage of their lives. Acorn-fed Ibérico pigs produce the most exclusive category of all: Jamón Ibérico de Bellota. A product of outstanding quality, it is distinguished by the deep red colour of its lean meat and the beautifully marbled fat that gives it its exceptional flavour.

A landscape that’s been shaped over centuries, a unique breed of pig, a truly sustainable and closed-loop way of farming, a very special diet – an awful lot of work and time goes into an Ibérico ham before it’s even touched by an artisan. These experts combine traditional methods passed down through generations with modern technology that allows for strict traceability and consistency.

It can take up to seven years to turn a leg of Ibérico pork into an Ibérico ham. It isn’t something that can be rushed; the development of that complex flavour is down to gentle curing and maturation, with a time-honoured process followed by the entire industry:

Towards the end of the maturation process, the artisan responsible for producing the hams will know by simply touching the ham whether it’s ready or not. When it passes their expert eye, it’s ready to be sold, sliced and enjoyed.

This level of craft needs to be protected, which is why ÍTACA – the unique digital system created to monitor a ham’s traceability – was created. It assigns each ham a mandatory, individual seal that guarantees the ham is genuinely Ibérico.  Depending on the breed of pig (100%, 75% or 50% Ibérico) and the type of feed it has been given (acorn-fed, free-range or grain-fed), each leg is given one of four ‘seals’ (black, red, green or white). These seals, combined with the official Quality Standard seal for Ibérico products (featuring the ASICI logo) or one of the four Protected Designations of Origin for Ibérico ham (each with its corresponding PDO logo), show just how guarded these hams are. There can be no room for doubt: only hams and shoulders bearing one of these seals are truly Ibérico.